The Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman turned a half-century-old in Milwaukee Thursday, celebrating the occasion with his band and a primarily full BMO Harris Bradley Center. Initially wearing a formal black jacket with tails, it wasn't long before he was shirtless. And very rarely, if at all Thursday, was he still - whether he was spinning around like a karate master caught in a cyclone or busting out his own interpretation of PSY's "Gangnam Style" galloping horse shuffle - and those moves were during just one song, "Around The World." (Fans brought their own special moves as well, at least in section 407 where I sat; at one point, I found myself completely smashed between two full-body dancers with no concept of personal space.) | Nov. 2, 2012»Read Full Article(6)

Danish alternative rock trio New Politics stopped by the Tap Milwaukee studios Thursday afternoon to perform its new single before opening for P!nk's BMO Harris Bradley Center show. The band will return to Milwaukee Feb. 8 to headline the Rave. Journal Sentinel photo by Michael Sears. | Jan. 9, 2014»Read Full Blog Post(1)

NIGHT LIFE

ACOUSTIC

THE BAY PLAYERS. Six men and six women ages 18 to 80 are needed for "The Butler Did It Again!" Auditions will be held at 7 p.m. Jan. 20 and 21 in the Whitefish Bay High School cafeteria, 1200 E. Fairmount Ave., Whitefish Bay. Auditions will consist of cold readings. Résumés and head shots welcome, but not required. Information: Raymond Bradford, (414) 272-5694.

On a snowy December night, the original lineup of '90s punk band Alligator Gun — singers and guitarists Bill Couture and John Kucera, drummer Craig Johansen and bassist Scott Schoenbeck — gathered in the same Brookfield basement where they had their first practice in 1991. The songs still pack punch.

DUE OUT TUESDAY

LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER (Anchor Bay) A plantation worker's son becomes a butler in the White House, seeing history unfold while making some of his own. Historical epic, inspired by a true story, directed by Lee Daniels, with Forest Whitaker as the butler, Oprah Winfrey as his wife, and an all-star cast playing some better-known residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. (PG-13; some violence, disturbing images, language, sexual material, mature theme, smoking) ★★★ | Jan. 9, 2014»Read Full Article

A few steps down from street level on Farwell Ave. is a door with frosted glass; a capital "A" with flourishes is etched into it. It's the sole sign, really, that you've arrived at Ardent, the most ambitious restaurant to open in Milwaukee in some time.

Swinging open that door for the first visit on a cold, bleak Friday night in December, and looking in on the warmly lighted, buzzing dining room, tiny as it was, I felt transported. Ardent was simple but stylish, rustic in its way (wooden serving pieces, bark attached) but with a bit of glam (geometric foil wallpaper). From our table, looking out the window at ground level lent a different perspective on the familiar scene of pedestrians and cars. | Jan. 9, 2014»Read Full Article(6)

For anyone not in the military, or a war-torn country, the closest you may get to actual combat is at a multiplex showing "Lone Survivor."

The Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts have spawned some powerful documentaries, but few memorable narrative films. The fact-based drama "Lone Survivor" is not the first to be set there, but it is surely the most horrifyingly intimate. | Jan. 9, 2014»Read Full Article

A lot of "acting" goes on in "August: Osage County" and if not for the star-studded cast, you wouldn't notice it.

However, you can't unsee Julia Roberts leaping across a table and wrestling Meryl Streep, who plays her mother, to the floor at a wake. It is a bigger-than-life moment acted out by larger-than-life performers and registers more as a "Mommie Dearest" scene rather than as a family full of resentments and rivalries coming home to roost in a realistic or meaningful way. | Jan. 9, 2014»Read Full Article